The UCLA Biomarker Reference Laboratory (UCLA BRL) is designed to be a continuation and expansion of the established EDRN-funded UCLA BRL. Significantly, the UCLA BRL has been highly successful having established numerous EDRN collaborations and constructed and successfully utilized tissue microarray resources for EDRN investigators. Our goals are in close alignment with the mission of the EDRN and include: i) the utilization of our diverse and extensive infrastructure and highly skilled personnel to test, evaluate, quantify, validate and optimize detection of biomarkers useful early stage tumor marker. To this end, we have established Scientific Centers that can test for biomarkers which are protein and/or nucleic acid in nature in tissue and/or in fluids. To this end, the Scientific Centers have extensive experience and expertise in assay performance and development for tissues (full tissue sections or 'intelligent high-density tissue microarrays), proteins (including conventional and high-throughput protemics), and nucleic acids (including expression profiles, DNA modifications or mutations, chromosomal abnormalities, and/or microRNA profiles), ii) This includes a developmental program focused on defining clinically useful tumor markers utilizing high density tissue microarray combined with a novel data-mining tool suite, iii) The continuation of a program at UCLA that is highly professional and focused, yet at the same time flexible and cost-effective in order to meet the challenges of an evolving EDRN program, iv) A strong commitment to collaboration, teamwork, and sharing of resources and data with EDRN members in order to promote the goal of identifying clinically useful tumor biomarkers. The UCLA BRL leadership is highly capable and enthusiastic, and strongly dedicated to the goals of the EDRN. Moreover, the UCLA-BRL has strong institutional support from the School of Medicine, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the UCLA Lung Cancer Program, and the UCLA Prostate Cancer SPORE.